Daily Times

Only one thing is certain in life and that is death. But if death approaches while waiting under conditions of increasing suffocation accompanied by the feeling of extreme helplessness, its intensity must multiply beyond imagination. Those who suffered the tragedy in Murree deserve our collective prayers.

Articles appeared almost in all newspapers lambasting the negligence by the relevant departments. On the other hand, the government’s wise heads blamed the tourists for risking their lives during the blizzard. To mitigate public outcry for failing to rescue the stranded, an inquiry to investigate and submit a report within the stipulated period was ordered, as usual. People never know the outcome of such inquiries or commissions formed by the government.

These measures are taken to pacify the rising storm of criticism until another tragedy hits the scene.  Visitors and families remained trapped in snow for more than 20 hours before some kind of relief operations began. Thousands of tourists throughout the year visit Murree, a tourist spot in close proximity to the capital.

The city’s local civil administration is heavily staffed since posting to hill stations is considered a prized posting. For nearly 20 hours, the administration didn’t stir. Rescue teams could have been dispatched on foot to help those fighting for their lives under heaps of snow.

Who will establish the rule of law if the PM contents himself only by pointing it out and doing precious little about it?

The stranded sent SOS messages for many hours but these failed to invoke any action by the layers of various administrations stationed at Murree. Topping the list is the high-sounding and high-profiled National Disaster Management Authority. It looked the other side when people froze to death. Maybe NDMA only handles huge disasters as its name suggests; Murree’s was a “trivial one.” But most of these so-called authorities are no less than parasites eating away public taxes.

All said, seeing children die for want of timely help left innumerable eyes tearful. NDMA or no NDMA. Whenever a tragic event occurs, there’re shockwaves and then the cacophony dies down.

Take the train and road accidents involving deaths. Mostly the poor victims at the mercy of the inefficient system are themselves blamed for it. Why have we become a tragedy-prone nation? Why have various administrative departments responsible to serve the public interests rapidly deteriorated in performance, despite swelling up with high ranks and overstaffing? The answer is simple. First, it’s the absence of rule of law and, second, the lack of accountability of all without any discrimination of social status.

Recall how the US-based World Justice Project ranked our pure land 130 out of 139 countries on its Rule of Law Index in 2021. Similarly, Henley Passport Index has ranked Pakistani passports fourth from the bottom, a notch above the passports of Afghanistan and Yemen. Japan and Singapore’s passports top the list as most powerful passports in Henley’s report for 2022. But the incorrigible optimists who speak for the government could claim that we at least top from the bottom if not from the top in both indexes—Rule of Law and passports.

“Tragedy of Pakistan that it has separate rules for poor and rich,” declared the prime minister during the groundbreaking ceremony of Islamabad District Courts building in September last year. Pakistan is far behind India and Bangladesh in this respect, he said. Who is responsible for what he termed the “tragedy of Pakistan?” Who will establish the rule of law if the PM contents himself only by pointing it out and doing precious little about it?

How do two different laws, one for the rich and the other for the poor, function? Sixteen-year-old Asma Nawab was wrongfully convicted for murdering her family in 1998 and had to spend two decades in jail in Karachi before she was declared innocent and acquitted.

Released at age 36, she had to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. As far a different law for the rich and the influential, take the recent case of Shahrukh Jatoi reported in the press. He was convicted for murdering a university student, Shahbaz Khan, and awarded a death sentence in 2012, which was later commuted to life imprisonment.

Jatoi spent the last eight months in a private hospital in Karachi where he enjoyed all facilities of a luxurious life.  To establish the supremacy of law, will those responsible for Murree tragedy be taken to task? Will some heads roll? The Chief Justice Islamabad High Court has held the NDMA mainly responsible for it. Hats off in his honour.

The writer is a Lahore-based columnist and can be reached at pinecity@gmail.com.